Natty is particularly partial to lightbulbs and has been hospitalised after eating them. Photo / Thinkstock
Natty is particularly partial to lightbulbs and has been hospitalised after eating them. Photo / Thinkstock
Parents often struggle to get children to eat vegetables, but Colleen Hayhurst struggles to get her three-year-old daughter to stop eating lightbulbs.
Natalie Hayhurst, from Terree Haute in Indiana, suffers from Pica, a rare condition which gives her cravings for inedible objects.
He mother told the Daily Mail her favouritefoods are rocks and sticks, although she has in past eaten entire bricks, and in February almost died when she ate a lightbulb torn from a bedroom night-light.
"I have had to call this poison helpline so many times that it's on my speed dial," Mrs Hayhurst said. "You name it Natty's tried to eat it.
"Once when Natty took a bite out of a house plant at my mothers house and again when she ate a brick. She can eat a brick like a normal person would eat a chocolate chip cookie."
She said her daughter knows the things are bad for her to eat, but the urge is too strong for her to resist.
In February she was rushed to hospital after she ate an entire light bulb, requiring emergency surgery.
Natalie is watched around the clock by her parents and her five-year-old brother Andrew.
"I'm scared that one day I won't be there," Ms Hayhurst said. "I'm not sure how to deal with it, I never heard of it before Natty was born."
